The soldiers of the Leg Regiment visibly deflated when the illusions vanished, and there were no more demonic battle maids for them to stare at.
No battle maids, but a lot of work cleaning, packing and storing the meat of the boars to supply the regiment now that the threat was gone. The Regiment could always use more meat, and at Overlord Rank, the Stone Crushers were highly nutritious, as well as better tasting than almost anything else in the region.
The Commander of the unit turned to Karl, who was taking time to polish his sword and absorb life energy after the battle.
There was a lot of it stored, and his body couldn't absorb it as fast as they were killing.
Or perhaps the sword was unable to transfer it that fast. Karl suspected that it was the first, as it had absorbed it without any issues. It was just the discharge rate that was slower.
"Overlord, thank you for your assistance. Were you passing by, or did this make the Guard Map in Drodh?" The soldier asked.
"It made the map. They were one of the closer major threats, and at an appropriate power level for my team, so we came here for the day." Karl explained.
Karl gestured upwards at Hawk. "We got a ride. Unlike walking troops, a small team like ours can cover a remarkable amount of ground."
The team didn't look all that small with the Golems, the beasts and the Dire Bear. But then Ophelia transformed back to her Werebear form, and it began to make more sense.
Then the Naga Queen bit someone.
"What the hell?" The Commander shouted, drawing his blade.
"Relax. It's a healing spell. Injecting [Healing Splash] is much more effective for targeted cures than surface treatments, and Remi is an Overlord. See, he's perked right back up.
Maybe a bit too much. Find that young man a Wrath Demon next time you've got days off."
The Commander chuckled a bit as he began to relax, and put his blade away.
The Demon really was looking better, and his Commander wondered what was wrong with him to begin with if the general purpose healing spells weren't getting rid of it, and he needed a specialist treatment.
Karl's team backed away while the soldiers cleared the battlefield, but Cara continued cleaning up the loot for a few more minutes, ensuring that she had all the good bits of ore and gemstone.
If it wouldn't take up a beast space slot each, they should have kept a few of these things, just to produce more loot for them.
[There are more of them in the distance, only a small group. We can always find more later.] Hawk consoled her.
[Chase the ones with baby pigs away from the settlements, so they have time to grow big. We can't be running out of loot pigs.] Cara insisted.
Was all of Drodh now an open air farm in her mind?
But they had killed so many of them this time, that the Pygmy Stone Crushers might actually be an endangered species in this region.
"Were there other major threats in the region that might not be on the map? Most of my group just grew into the Monarch Rank, and combat seems to be the best way to stabilize power levels." Karl asked the leader of the military team.
The man took out his map to compare with Karl's.
They were nearly identical, other than the marks for military units and smaller villages that weren't on Karl's map. The one that the guards in Drodh handed out only had the major population centres on it, not every small farming village of fifty or a hundred people, much less the small waypoints and farming community clusters.
"Nothing much. It's all been kept under control recently, except for the larger issue at the river." The Commander noted.
The Undead Horde that the Regiment had been sent to deal with, before separating to keep the threat contained.
"Do they need assistance? We could likely fly over there tomorrow and collect some undead. With the Priestesses and Thor, we can do a rather significant amount of Holy Damage to undead hordes."
The Commander shook his head. "Please don't. We have issued an evacuation order so that we don't have secondary infections and casualties. There are strict quarantine protocols after fighting the Undead that must be followed, so we don't spread a zombie plague through the city.
The Wights aren't as bad. The ones that they turn to zombies aren't infectious. The ones out here in the wild are, and they have a number of Lich Lords with them."
That still sounded fun to Cara. [Nullify] made playing with spell casters far more enjoyable than it had any right to be.
Karl whistled to Hawk, bringing him down to ground level. The soldiers finally realized just how large the Thunderbird was, a full thirty metres long. That was more than enough to carry this handful of people. But when Remi, Cara and the bodyguards simply vanished, the Guards were baffled.
"I have a skill to create a separate space for my bonded partners. It makes travel much less of a chore." Karl explained.
The Demon nodded. "Our Regiment Commander has a similar skill. [Pocket Dimension] he calls it."
Remi and Dana both perked up at the mention, but the Commander could only see Dana. "If you're compatible with it, ask the Lared Academy. They are the sole source of tomes on the topic. But they don't often offer them to anyone below Totem Rank."
Karl smiled. "We have a couple of professors from Lared Academy at our Guild House in Drodh right now. I will ask them when we return. Perhaps I can work out a deal."
Then Karl got a great idea. Jones, the Magma Dragon, had mentioned trading for spell books. Karl could likely find something that would make it worth the Dragon's time if he had a similar sort of skill.
Or [Portal]. They could really use a portal skill.
"Alright, we will be headed back. Thor, you'll have to get your scales rubbed later, friend. Bring Tessa over here before you rest, will you?" Karl called.
Dana's Dragon Hound [Greater Golem] looked up from where it was doing the exact same thing as Thor, and the mage laughed as she dismissed the summoned beast. Those two had a lot in common.